People who tried electronic devices no more likely to give up smokes a year later

By Nathan Seppa, 12:06 PM March 24, 2014

Electronic cigarettes may not shut off the urge to smoke cigarettes. A survey of 949 smokers found no difference in quit rates a year after some had taken up e-cigarettes while others hadn’t, researchers at the University of California, San Francisco report March 24 in JAMA Internal Medicine.

E-cigarettes deliver nicotine in vapor form without the cancer-causing combusted materials of a lit cigarette. Manufacturers suggest that using them is a first step toward quitting smoking. Of 949 smokers...